Optimize Storage Performance with Automated Monitoring and Diagnostics

18 2013 Issue 03 | Dell.com/powersolutions

Converged infrastructure and data managementSpecialsection

Reprinted from Dell Power Solutions, 2013 Issue 3. Copyright © 2013 Dell Inc. All rights reserved. Reprinted from Dell Power Solutions, 2013 Issue 3. Copyright © 2013 Dell Inc. All rights reserved.

Storage uptime and availability

play a crucial role in optimizing

IT service effectiveness and

organizational productivity. To

help keep their Dell EqualLogic storage

area networks (SANs) running optimally,

administrators can take advantage

of the robust analytical capabilities

and comprehensive monitoring and

management functionality of

EqualLogic SAN Headquarters

(SAN HQ). Part of the powerful

EqualLogic portfolio of advanced

storage management and data

protection software, the SAN HQ

monitoring and reporting tool is

provided at no additional cost with

EqualLogic PS Series storage arrays.1

The recently released version 2.6

of SAN HQ extends administrators’

capabilities with Dell SupportAssist,

an automated proactive support

technology that helps identify faults

and accelerate time to resolution.

SAN HQ version 2.6 with SupportAssist

technology helps simplify storage

management, optimize performance

and boost efficiency. Also, SAN HQ

version 2.6 adds support for

Microsoft® Windows Server® 2012

and Windows 8 operating systems.

Integrating multigroup monitoring

SAN HQ integrates the monitoring

of EqualLogic PS Series storage

deployments across multiple sites and

geographies to enhance operational

awareness and facilitate performance

optimization and capacity planning. To

support ongoing operations planning,

trend analysis and troubleshooting,

SAN HQ gathers and displays

performance, utilization and event data

across multiple groups of EqualLogic

PS series arrays. Data is gathered at

multiple levels, including groups, pools,

In-depth monitoring and analysis are essential to

effective storage management. Dell™ EqualLogic™

SAN Headquarters version 2.6 with Dell SupportAssist

is designed to improve these capabilities and

accelerate problem resolution for EqualLogic storage.

By Dylan Locsin, Achmad Chadran and Marc Keating

Optimize storage performance with automated monitoring and diagnostics

1 For arrays with valid support contracts, Dell EqualLogic SAN HQ can be downloaded at eqlsupport.dell.com.

“ SAN HQ version 2.6

with SupportAssist

technology helps simplify

storage management,

optimize performance

and boost efficiency.”

http://eqlsupport.dell.com

Dell.com/powersolutions | 2013 Issue 03 19



members, disks, volumes and volume collections.

This data is then aggregated into a centralized, easy-

to-use console designed to provide administrators

with a single-pane-of-glass view of their entire

EqualLogic storage environment, including

performance, capacity and alert information. This

ready access to integrated system intelligence

and storage operations information allows

administrators to view system health at a glance.

The Live View feature captures and displays

detailed, near-real-time diagnostics information

to accelerate problem diagnosis and resolution.

Administrators can run one or more Live View

sessions, each of which can monitor either a

single member or a single volume. A rapid polling

rate enables Live View to establish a baseline

and capture performance spikes that deliver an

extremely detailed view of member or volume

status. For a view of storage arrays during normal

operations, Normalized View Reporting — also

called 95th-percentile reporting — factors out

data spikes; these spikes occur infrequently, often

comprise the top 5 percent of data I/O and do not

reflect most typical I/O patterns.

To help administrators assess current system

performance and reliability, as well as plan for

future capacity requirements, SAN HQ includes

advanced analytical and predictive capabilities.

For example, version 2.6 of SAN HQ enhances

the utility’s RAID Evaluator feature with RAID

reliability reporting capabilities. The updated

RAID Evaluator calculates a RAID policy reliability

score that indicates the current configuration’s

resilience in case of a disk failure, enabling

administrators to analyze the overall reliability and

effectiveness of current RAID policies.

RAID Evaluator is also designed to

forecast performance and reliability impacts

from potential RAID policy changes. Using

information from RAID Evaluator, administrators

can apply different RAID policies to individual

members in a group or pool and evaluate

both the performance benefits and the impact

on reliability for each choice. This capability

helps administrators choose the RAID policies

that are most appropriate for specific usage

requirements (see figure).

In addition, SAN HQ version 2.6 includes the

Experimental Analysis function, which estimates

the maximum theoretical I/Os per second

(IOPS) for a particular storage configuration. The

function uses historical workload information to

determine the potential performance headroom

available for growth. These analyses help

administrators obtain directional indications about

how much additional workload their existing pool

structures can handle. Based on these indications,

administrators can determine if any changes are

necessary to support new requirements, such as

rebalancing workloads across pools or adding

hardware to an existing pool.

To facilitate the analysis of performance metrics,

SAN HQ can archive existing storage performance

data to be accessed offline. Administrators can

combine this storage performance data with

server and application performance data collected

RAID Evaluator assesses the performance and reliability of different RAID levels to aid in RAID policy configuration.

20 2013 Issue 03 | Dell.com/powersolutions



by the Dell Performance Analysis Collection Kit

(DPACK).2 Using SAN HQ in conjunction with

DPACK enables administrators to compare

server segments and storage segments within

their environments. They can then use this

comprehensive, systemwide view of performance

to assess current usage, diagnose bottlenecks,

identify trends and plan for future requirements.

Administrators can share SAN HQ and DPACK

archives with Dell service and sales support experts

for additional analytical and planning expertise.

Automating problem resolution

Version 2.6 of SAN HQ introduces the

implementation of the SupportAssist automated

proactive support capability for EqualLogic

storage. Available as part of the Dell ProSupport

and ProSupport Plus service offerings,

SupportAssist is designed to proactively identify

issues and create support cases without manual

intervention. (For more information about Dell

ProSupport Plus, see the sidebar, “Stepping up to

enterprise-class support.”)

In a traditional support scenario, resolving

technical problems often includes time-

consuming, back-and-forth communication

between the organization and the technology

vendor. For example, if a component such as a

hard disk should malfunction, the administrator

typically notifies the vendor of the failure.

After the vendor verifies support entitlement

and creates a case, the administrator uploads

configuration and diagnostic information and

communicates with the vendor by phone

or email to troubleshoot the issue until it is

resolved. This process can involve considerable

time and distract IT administrative resources

from value-added initiatives.

Stepping up to enterprise-class supportTo maintain the performance and

availability of Dell EqualLogic storage

arrays, administrators need to stay ahead

of problems that can put daily operations

at risk. A feature of EqualLogic SAN

Headquarters (SAN HQ) version 2.6,

Dell SupportAssist provides problem

identification and automatic case creation

for EqualLogic arrays covered by the Dell

ProSupport service offering. In addition,

SupportAssist enables advanced reporting

and recommendations for customer

organizations as part of the Dell

ProSupport Plus service.

ProSupport Plus offers levels of

support and service beyond those already

enjoyed by ProSupport customers. This

comprehensive offering is designed to help

organizations improve the performance

and stability of their critical systems, as

well as maximize their workload availability.

Key additional features of ProSupport Plus

include the following:

• A dedicated technical account manager

as a single point of contact for enterprise-

class support

• Immediate access to elite ProSupport

Plus engineers for quick and

efficient resolutions

• Monthly contract and support-history

reporting to aid in budgeting, planning

and recommendations based on

trends and best practices across the

Dell customer base

For more information about ProSupport Plus,

visit Dell.com/prosupportplus.

2 For more information on DPACK, see “Fine-tuning IT infrastructure through rapid system assessment,” by Sam Kirchoff and Joanna Norling, in Dell Power Solutions, 2011 Issue 4, qrs.ly/k33gwq3.

http://Dell.com/prosupportplus

http://qrs.ly/k33gwq3

Dell.com/powersolutions | 2013 Issue 03 21



To streamline problem resolution,

SupportAssist helps remove the need for

administrators to initiate certain support cases.

When an administrator enables SupportAssist

through SAN HQ for EqualLogic storage

groups, SupportAssist automatically collects

select configuration, diagnostic and capacity

data and uploads that information to a secure

Dell Support web server. SupportAssist has

an intelligence engine that analyzes this data

for critical events and conditions. When an

issue arises, SupportAssist notifies both Dell

Support teams and the customer organization.

To minimize impact on performance and

resources, SupportAssist is designed for fast

deployment, rapid data collection and minimal

data transmission.

In a proactive support scenario of a disk

failure, SupportAssist would detect the fault

automatically. SupportAssist then sends

diagnostic and configuration information

to Dell over a secure connection and

creates a Dell Support case so that support

engineers can review the data and proactively

begin work on the case. SupportAssist also

emails the customer’s administrator with

information about the newly opened case. This

streamlined path to problem resolution helps

eliminate time-consuming communication,

improve system uptime and minimize burden

on IT resources.

To help ensure security, SupportAssist, via SAN

HQ, interacts with the EqualLogic arrays exclusively

through a read-only administrator account.

SupportAssist encrypts communications between

the EqualLogic array and Dell and scrubs user

passwords prior to upload; any transmissions to

Dell are documented in the SAN HQ activity logs.

SupportAssist automated proactive

technology is also available for a wide range

of Dell enterprise devices, including Dell

PowerEdge™ servers and Dell Networking

offerings (see figure). In addition, SupportAssist

integrates with management consoles such as

Dell OpenManage™ Essentials to provide added

remote monitoring capabilities.

Boosting the bottom line

Manageability and ease of support can greatly

affect IT service effectiveness and return on

investment (ROI). The Dell vision is to enhance

effectiveness through robust management

capabilities combined with proactive technology

and support service offerings. Dell EqualLogic

SAN HQ and SupportAssist technology integrate

storage management with automated problem

resolution. By using SAN HQ in concert with the

Dell ProSupport and ProSupport Plus service

offerings, administrators can streamline storage

management and boost the uptime and efficiency

of their EqualLogic storage deployments —

enhancing the bottom line.

Authors

Dylan Locsin is a product manager

for Dell Storage, with more than

13 years of experience in marketing

for enterprise storage, networking

and software. Follow Dylan on

Twitter @TechDylan.

Achmad Chadran is an

infrastructure solution specialist

in the Dell Enterprise Solution

Group. Follow Achmad on

Twitter @a_SAN_a.

Marc Keating is an enterprise

technologist at Dell, with more than

15 years of experience working

with storage, networking and

virtualization technologies.

Learn more

Dell EqualLogic software:

Dell.com/equallogicsoftware

Dell SupportAssist:

Dell.com/supportassist

Dell ProSupport Plus:

Dell.com/prosupportplus

Case creation and proactive resolution

Monitoring and data collection

Hardware devices

ServersDell PowerEdge

Storage Dell PowerVault™

Dell EqualLogic

NetworkingDell Networking

Converged

Managementconsoles withSupportAssist

Dell OpenManageEssentials

Dell EqualLogicSAN Headquarters

Support customer relationship management (CRM) integration

SupportAssist intelligence engine

Enhanced performance

Analysis and trending

Secure transport

Recommendations and reporting

Part of a broad support initiative, Dell SupportAssist provides integrated, automated support across the Dell enterprise portfolio to streamline problem identification and resolution.

http://www.twitter.com/TechDylan

http://www.twitter.com/a_SAN_a

http://Dell.com/equallogicsoftware

http://Dell.com/supportassist

http://Dell.com/prosupportplus

Technology

Optimize Storage Performance with Automated Monitoring and Diagnostics